Lack of trust means road to US still a one-way street
— Andrew Carnegie, paraphrased on Killian Clarke’s Twitter account
Maybe it’s because Cavan’s Killian Clarke became the first high profile transfer, maybe it’s because I sense that there’s been a glut of departures here in West Kerry recently, or perhaps it’s because it’s that time of year again, but I took a look during the week at the list of sanctions for the New York, North American County Board and J1 Visa programme on the GAA website.
It confirmed what I already knew — the migration of young footballers has begun in earnest.
As always, the exodus sparks the usual existential debate and we fret about what it means for us.
Are we still capable of committing to a cause? Where does a pastime end and a livelihood begin? Should we saddle our amateur players with professional expectations? Does the GAA public have a right to expect certain standards from their players? And what of the restlessness of youth and the smugness of those who would deny it?
It’s a conversation I’ve had a hundred times recently and it’s a conversation we can’t have often enough. What can we reasonably and justifiably expect of our club and county players when they play for our clubs and counties? What are the ties that bind them to a club or to a county jersey and just how strong are those bonds when they are put to the test?
Killian Clarke is a fine player, one of Cavan’s finest in fact. He has had four years of constant action between playing with his club, Shercock, the Cavan minors, seniors and U21s and with UUJ at third level.
He is finishing college and probably feels this is his last opportunity to travel before work and the demands of playing at the highest level for his county consume his life altogether. Viewed in that light, he is absolutely right to grasp the opportunity to take a bit of summer work in Boston while kicking a bit of ball on the playing fields in Canton at the weekend with his new-found friends from Wolfe Tones GAA.
But there is more to the debate than that.
There will be those who will say that you can’t simply disregard the investment made in a player’s career by those around him from a very young age. What if that player gets injured while out playing abroad. Who picks up the tab to get him back on his feet? And even if he doesn’t get injured, who has paid for the support systems to help him become the footballer or hurler he is today?
It was with these questions in mind that Offaly County Board secretary Tommy Byrne told delegates at their convention last December that “losing 13 players to summer emigration, withdrawals and injuries would have a devastating effect on any team and it is a situation that cannot be allowed happen again. The board has decided we will not sign sanction forms for any player that has played in the first round of the championship until our interest has concluded.”
The board decision was designed to ensure that any player who trained throughout the year with Offaly would be committed to Offaly for the summer campaign.
Indeed, the very first motion to go before this year’s Annual Congress in Croke Park was expected to copperfasten this security of commitment for all counties, in particular when it came to players leaving for New York.
The motion aimed to extend a rule which already prevails in North America to include the New York Board. An inter-county player who has been named in a match-day championship 26 cannot get a sanction to play in New York unless he is a student, which is defined as anyone eligible for a J1 student visa.
In effect, the motion would have stopped inter-county players going to New York after their team has been knocked out of the championship, depriving clubs of their services.
The motion was rejected, as it was not favoured by a two-thirds majority. The vote was 60.2% to 39.8%. and the transatlantic movement of players that so infuriated GAA folk in Armagh, Down, Laois and Offaly last year will continue unabated. There will be no change in the situation that led former Laois stalwart Joe Higgins to say of his own county’s case a year ago: “Lads should see it out to the end; we’re either in this together or we’re not.”
The whole issue needs to be kept in perspective, however. It would be unfair to suggest that a mass exodus occurs after the first round of inter-county championship, or after club exits from county championships.
A glance at the figures from last year shows that between the May 31 and the July 20 cut-off date, 339 players got an official sanction for the NACB area, that 218 sanctions were issued to players eligible for the J1 visa, and that 93 official sanctions were granted for the New York area.
The distrust between GAA units here in Ireland and those in the States needs to be addressed too, and it must be acknowledged that the players themselves have a role to play here. There are inter-county players and club players selling themselves just as forcefully, if not more so, than the New York or NACB clubs trying to entice them with financial or other incentives.
New York board chairman Liam Bermingham said as much this time last year when responding to comments from Ard Stiúrthóir, Paraic Duffy: “Believe me, it works both ways. You have no idea the number of emails to clubs from players shopping themselves around constantly. I have seen, from those county players that you talk about, at least eight emails from them to numerous clubs here. They are looking to come over because, obviously, there is no work at home and they feel once they are out of [the provincial championships] they are looking to come over. There are emails to clubs showing what other clubs are offering them,” said Bermingham.
And so Killian Clarke’s departure earlier this week sparked an age old debate about the need to find a balance between protecting the domestic game and allowing young footballers the freedom to travel.
The game at home can feel strangely bereft when some of the best players in a club or county set-up decide to head off for the summer, but playing on American soil at least once is an essential part of the GAA experience.
Very few on this side of the pond, meanwhile, appear concerned about nurturing an American-born grassroots movement, the best chance of a sustainable future for Gaelic games in America.
For those genuinely concerned with promoting the game in America and at home, that is the real tragedy, and one that is unlikely to be tolerated for too much longer.
Aguisín: Best wishes are extended to Galway club CLG Maigh Cuilinn who are hosting the annual Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta for the first time this weekend. It should make for a great weekend’s entertainment. The football won’t be bad too!
